Fish oil confers many health benefits upon animals. For example, fish oil contains relatively high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and other essential fatty acids that are normally not produced by an animal and instead must be ingested by the animal as part of a healthy diet. Although fish oil confers health benefits to animals, consumer acceptance of fish oil products may be adversely impacted by the offensive smell of fish oil to certain human beings. In addition, fish oil generally has at ambient temperature a very low viscosity, such as about 30-60 centipoise (cP), and may be messy to dispense by pumping, pouring, and squeezing due to the thin and runny nature of the fish oil.
Moreover, dietary supplements, such as glucosamine, chondroitin, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes, when ingested by an animal help to improve its health. Traditionally, dietary supplements for animals have been packaged and stored in a dry powdered form to prevent moisture from activating the supplement. The dry powder may be delivered in pill form to the animal or mixed into its food. For example, PBI/Gordon Corporation of Kansas City, Mo. sells a dietary supplement, ProZyme®, which includes the digestive enzyme alpha-amylase 2000 SKBU. ProZyme® is sold in a powdered form, which may have one or both of offensive smell and taste to the animal. Thus, ProZyme® may be difficult to deliver to the animal, even if the dietary supplement is mixed with the animal's food. Further, pills are challenging to deliver to animals, particularly if an animal has previously ingested a foul tasting or smelling pill.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,920 of Christensen describes using a soft chewable treat to deliver probiotics to an animal. However, the soft chewable treat has a water activity of about 0.60 to about 0.75, which can negatively impact the shelf life of the treat because activated probiotics may undesirably multiply in presence of moisture. In addition, the soft chewable treat may have one or both of offensive smell and taste to the animal, particularly if the probiotic has multiplied to undesirable levels due to the presence of moisture. Further, the soft chewable treat includes additional ingredients, such as starch, sugar, humectant, and a bulking agent. Thus, the treat may be of limited commercial viability due to the increased processing time and production costs.
Thus, the present inventor has recognized a need for improved systems and methods for delivering fish oil and dietary supplements to animals.